Folding cylinder



r Febfzl, 1928.

J. J. HALLIWELL Y FOLDING CYLINDER.

Filed Oct. 15. 1924 INVENTOR.

( A'r'rYs,

Patented Feb. 21, 1928.

; UNITED. TA

JOHN J. ALLIwELL, or ,TUcKArron, NEW you, assrenon, LBY MESNE AssIGnitems, To a. nonanncc, me, or NEW Yoax, N.,Y., a conronarron or NEW 1 HYORKL.

7 l mme amuse.

1 Application flledoctober 15, 1924. "stream. 743,054. 3

This invention relates to certain improve products, such as products or over fifty pages. i V In folding certain classes of products, particularly productslfrom high speed print-f ing machines, the folding iseffected bya cylinder to fold off the product. The prod net is folded off into the bite of a pair of folding-off rolls. In the usual construe tions, these folding-off rolls are inter geared andone ofthemis driven frommthe cylinder. "Theserollsare mounted so that they may be separated to fold products of different thicknessesione of the rolls bein ilsi'ially mounted spring-seated bearings-N This' i construction is effective-for products of a certain thickness; however, where very thick products are to be folded, as, for instance, .products of fifty pages, the very thickness of the product causes the gears by which the rolls are driven to move out of mesh, thus stopping the driving of the rolls.

To overcome this, gears have been provided 7 for these rolls with very deep teeth. These deep teeth are unsatisfactory, however, as they are liable to injury and, furthermore, it is impracticable to make the teeth deep enough toremain in mesh for handling very thick products.

A special object of the present invention is to provide a simple drive for folding-off rolls of a folding cylinder in which the driv-- ing mechanism is so positioned that teeth of ordinary or shallow depth may be used, and in which these teeth will remain in mesh for the maximum thickness of the product for which the machine is capacitated, thus providing a strong positive drive for the rolls. 1

With this and other objects not specifi cally referred to, the invention consists in certain novel parts, arrangements and combinations which will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features pointed outin the claims hereunto annexed.

In these drawings Figure 1 is a side view of so much of a the viewbeing taken on'line 2 2 of Fi 1 operating folding rolls '4," 5. with this folding cylin'deris the usual cuttingcylinder fi, "and the products are delivered fromthe folding rolls to a delivery fol ing cylinderand associated parts necessaryfor an understanding of the in" vent1on,and

Figure 21s a partialside view, partly in section, of thestructure shown in Fig. 1,

looking in the direction ofthe arrow.

Referring now tothese drawings in de PATENT, OFFICE. i

tail, theppar ts of the mechanism are sup-f ported in side frames, one of which 'is shown marked l, of any suitable or desired configuration. Mounted in thisside frame 1s a folding cylinder 2 provided with the usual folding blade 31 which actsto fold off the product into the bite of a pair of co- Cooperating In accordance with the invention, means are provided for positively driving the folding rolls so that the driving gears will remain in mesh for the maximum movement apart of the rolls for which the machine is capacitated. In the particular construction for effecting this, one of these rolls, as the roll 4, has its shaft 8 mounted in spring seated bearings, indicated at 9, the roll being moved by the product against the spring as the product passes between the rolls. The

other roll is stationarily mounted, the shaft 10 of the roll taking bearing in the side frames of the machine. The stationary roll is driven in the usual manner from the folding cylinder by means of a gear 11 on the folding cylinder meshing with a gear 12 keyed on the end of the roll shaft 10 outside the frame, as shown in Fig. 2. Instead of gearing the rolls 4. 5 directly together, as usual, separate gearing is provided for driving the roll 4from the roll 5, this gearing being so proportioned and positioned that it remains in mesh within the limits of the movement of the roll 4. In the particular construction shown, the shaft 10, inside the frame,"is provided with a gear 13 which is in mesh with an intermediate 14 on a stud 15. The gear 14a in mesh with a second intersuitab ly supported in the machine, as in a bracket 18 secured in the machine frame.

mediate 16 on a stud 17. These studs are The intermediate 16 is in mesh with a gear 19 on the shaft 8 of the roll 4. It will be noticed that the axes of the shaft 8 and the stud 17 are in the same vertical plane, but. thatthe axis of the stud 15 is offset to one side of the axis of shaft 10. It follows that when the roll at is moved the gear 19 is in mesh with the gear 16 at any point in the movement of the roll, so that the gears are always in mesh and the rolls may be positively driven with shallow-tooth gears no matter what the thickness of the folded product may be within the limits of the mechanism. 7

It will he observed, see Fig. 2, that the gears 13 and 19, which drive the rolls 5, 1, are of smaller diameter than the rolls, so that these gears are never in mesh, the driving being from 13 tl1rough 14: and 16 to 19. By thus arranging the parts, the gears can all he in the same vertical plane and a good drive assured without danger of jamming the gears, and space is economized, which is important in thisclass of machines. Furthermore, the gears may he placed inside the frames and closely adjacent the ends of the rolls, thus insuring an effective drive.

\Vhile the invention has been shown and described in its preferred form, it will be understood that certain minor variations may be made in the form and arrangement of the parts without departing from the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Vhat I claim is:

1. In a folding mechanism, the combina tion of a folding cylinder having a driving gear, a pair of folding rolls directly cooperating therewith and mounted to separate to fold products of different thicknesses. gears on the rolls of smaller diameter than the rolls so as to be out of mesh with each other, an additional gear for one of said rolls which gear is in mesh with the driving gear on the cylinder, and driving gears independent. of the rolls and arranged in the same plane as the roll gears and positioned to he in mesh with the .roll gears at any point in the separating movement of the rolls.

2. In a folding mechanism, the combina tionof a, folding cylinder, a pair of foldingrolls directly cooperating therewith and.

mounted to separate to fold products of dif- A ferent thicknesses, framing in which the folding rolls; are mounted, a driving gear on the folding cylinder, a gear 011- one of the folding rolls meshing therewith outside the framing, gears on the rolls inside the. framing ofsmaller diameter than the rolls so as to be out of mesh with each other, and a pair of driving gears arranged in the same plane as the roll gears and position to be in mesh at. any point in the separating movement of the rolls.

In testimony whereof, I have. hereunto set my hand. 7

. 7 JOHN J. HALLIWELL. 

